What was new on this site: January-April 2005

In the main section of Some corrections and additions to the Complete Peerage,
the following items have been added:
DINHAM or DINAUNT (Volume 4, page 374; Sir John de Dinham, d. 1428),
EXETER (Volume 5, page 204),
STAFFORD (Volume 12, part 1, page 174 and note b) and
TONY (Volume 12, part 1, page 773 and note i)

New links

Brief guide to medieval English genealogy:

Domesday Book:
Scans for particular places from the Digital Domesday CD-ROM,
produced by Alecto Publications,
are available as pay-per-view PDF files or hard copies from
Domesday Extracts

Handwriting and language:
Dictionary
of Genealogy & Archaic Terms (Randy Jones, The Genealogy And Family History Home Page)
An extensive dictionary of genealogically relevant words,
based originally on a list by Dick Eastman, including many useful for medieval research

Medieval source material on the Internet:

County and local history:

Richard Carew, The Survey of Cornwall
(1769; originally published 1602) (Project Gutenberg)
A pioneering work of county history, now of mainly historical interest

Gordon Home, The
Evolution of an English Town [Pickering, North Riding of Yorkshire] (1905) (Project Gutenberg)
A very detailed history, including copious abstracts of record evidence.

Public records: Chancery and other equity suits:
Inheritance Dispute Index 1574-1714
(British Origins)
Index compiled by Peter Coldham, searchable on a pay-per-view basis, to over 26,000 Chancery suits
relating to inheritance of money or real estate.

Probate records:

York Medieval Probate Index 1267-1500
(British Origins/Borthwick Institute)
Index, searchable on a pay-per-view basis, to over 10,000 wills proved in the Prerogative and
Exchequer Courts of York, in the period 1267-1500

York Peculiars Probate Index 1383-1883
(British Origins/Borthwick Institute)
Index, searchable on a pay-per-view basis,
to over 25,000 wills proved in the 54 peculiar courts of the Province of York,
in the period 1383-1883

Monumental brasses on the Internet:
Sir Hugh Hastings (1347):
Elsing, Norfolk
(drawing, photographs and discussion of a well known brass, including small figures showing
King Edward III, Thomas Beauchamp, Earl of Warwick, Hugh le Despenser, Lord Despenser [missing],
Sir John Grey of Ruthin, Henry, Earl of Lancaster, Lawrence Hastings, Earl of Pembroke [missing]
and Ralph de Stafford, Lord Stafford, Almeric de St. Amand, Lord St. Amand)
(Monumental Brass Society, Brass of the month for March 2005)
A larger detail of the 18th-century drawing of the brass is
here
(on the Armour
page of the Picture Library)

Links:

General:

A Key to English Place-Names
(Institute for Name-Studies, Nottingham University)
Database in progress, soon to include listings of all English parishes,
with notes on the origin of each place name, and source references.
The data can be searched, or else browsed for each county using either
alphabetical indexes or maps

Monumenta Germaniae Historica digital
(Monumenta Germaniae Historica/Bavarian State Library)
Official website of the extensive series of published documents relating to the history of Germany,
offering free access to images (in JPEG format) of all but the most recently published volumes.
The web pages are in German.

Societies and journals:
Lincoln Record Society
Includes listings of publications - out of print, in print and current

22 February 2005:

New material

David Hepworth has generously provided me with electronic versions of
several lengthy papers on the Savilles and associated families,
originally published in 1920s in the Yorkshire Archaeological Journal.
These are well worth a look, not only for the very full details of the particular families
described, but also because they contain transcripts of many documents,
and illustrate the kinds of evidence that are useful in establishing medieval pedigrees.

I'm also grateful to the Dean of St Nicholas's Cathedral, Newcastle upon Tyne,
for permission to reproduce the brass
to Roger and Agnes Thornton (formerly at All Saints Church)
together with associated information, which were kindly supplied
to me by Bob Thornton.

Handwriting and language:
Palaeography:
reading old handwriting, 1500 - 1800: A practical online tutorial (National Archives/University College London)
Includes some useful reference material, including information on abbreviations, dates, money, weights and measures;
with links to examples of documents for practice, and a bibliography

Welsh Biography Online (National Library of Wales)
Electronic resource based on the published Dictionary of Welsh Biography (1953-2001)

County and local history:

R. A. Lendon Smith,
The
Barton and Bartoner of Christ Church, Canterbury [Kent] (Kent Archaeological Society)
Text of a paper originally published in Archaeologia Cantiana, vol. 55, pp. 16-25 (1942)
The history of the Barton - or home farm - of Christ Church, Canterbury

Gordon Ward,
The
Lost Dens of Little Chart [Kent] (Kent Archaeological Society)
Text of a paper originally published in Archaeologia Cantiana, vol. 58, pp. 1-7 (1945)
Attempts to trace the "dens" - areas of land in the Weald - belonging to Little Chart manor

C. R. Councer,
The
Medieval Painted Glass of Chilham [Kent] (Kent Archaeological Society)
Text of a paper originally published in Archaeologia Cantiana, vol. 58, pp. 8-13 (1945)
Some of the glass described is heraldic; includes some notes on the Ensinge family

R. F. Jessup,
Notes
on a Saxon Charter of Higham [Kent] (Kent Archaeological Society)
Text of a paper originally published in Archaeologia Cantiana, vol. 55, pp. 12-15 (1942)
Discussion of the places mentioned in an eigth-century charter

A.H. Taylor,
The
Clergy of St. John the Baptist, Smallhythe [Kent] (Kent Archaeological Society)
Text of a paper originally published in Archaeologia Cantiana, vol. 55, pp. 26-36 (1942)
Biographical notes, 15th-century and later

F. W. Hardman and W. P. D. Stebbing,
Stonar
and the Wantsum Channel. Part III.- The Site of the Town of Stonar [Kent] (Kent Archaeological Society)
Text of a paper originally published in Archaeologia Cantiana, vol. 55, pp. 37-49 (1942)
Includes an outline of the medieval history of Stonar

Gordon Ward,
The
Suttons [Kent] (Kent Archaeological Society)
Text of a paper originally published in Archaeologia Cantiana, vol. 55, pp. 1-7 (1942)
Discussion of several places called Sutton in Kent, including medieval references

Taxation and other lists:

Two
Tudor subsidy rolls for the city of London 1541 and 1582 (British History Online)
Text from the edition of R. G. Lang, London Record Society, vol. 29 (1993);
Transcript of the National Archives documents E.179/144/120 and E.179/251/16,
and the 1541 Orphans' Books of London

Common law records:

The
London eyre of 1244 (British History Online)
Text from the edition of Helena M. Chew and Martin Weinbaum, London Record Society, vol. 6 (1970);
Latin text with English translations; crown pleas for years 10 Henry III to 27 Henry III [1225-1243],
plus appeals, articles, constitutions and related material

The
London eyre of 1276 (British History Online)
Text from the edition of Martin Weinbaum, London Record Society, vol. 12 (1976);
English translations (with some Latin); crown pleas for years 36 Henry III to 4 Edward I [1251-1276],
plus civil pleas, assizes, and related material

Probate records:

The
Last Testament of King Henry II of England (Wolfram and other genealogies)
Latin text, from John Nicholas, ed.,
Collection of all the Wills, now known to be extant, of the Kings and Queens of England

Arthur Hussey,
Herne [Kent]
Wills: Abstracts.- I (Kent Archaeological Society)
Text of a paper originally published in Archaeologia Cantiana, vol. 28, pp. 83-114 (1909)
Abstracts of wills from the 14th and 15th centuries, with notes on some families

Fasti Ecclesiae Anglicanae
Biographical lists of senior clergy associated with the cathedrals of England and Wales, originally
compiled by John le Neve in the early 18th century, and twice revised since then.
Texts from the twentieth-century multi-volume revised edition (British History Online):

W. P. Blore,
Recent
Discoveries in the Archives of Canterbury Cathedral (Kent Archaeological Society)
Text of a paper originally published in Archaeologia Cantiana, vol. 58, pp. 28-34 (1945)
Extracts from accounts (in Latin), 13th-16th centuries, mainly relating to building work

John H. Harvey,
Recent
Discoveries in the Archives of Canterbury Cathedral. A Note on the Craftsmen (Kent Archaeological Society)
Text of a paper originally published in Archaeologia Cantiana, vol. 58, pp. 35-39 (1945)
Notes from 13th-15th-century accounts, including the names of a number of craftsmen

Dorothy Gardiner,
Recent
Discoveries in the Archives of Canterbury Cathedral. Notes on the Monks and Priory Buildings Mentioned (Kent Archaeological Society)
Text of a paper originally published in Archaeologia Cantiana, vol. 58, pp. 40-42 (1945)
Notes from 13th-15th-century records, mentioning monks and others associated with the cathedral

The
church in London 1375-1392 (British History Online)
Text from the edition of A. K. McHardy, London Record Society, vol. 13 (1977);
English translations and abstracts; clerical poll tax returns, 1379-81,
an inquisition into ecclesiastical property, c. 1392,
and the acta of William Courtenay, bishop of London, 1375-81

Urban and guild records:

London assize of nuisance 1301-1431:
A calendar (British History Online)
Text from the edition of Helena M. Chew and William Kellaway, London Record Society, vol. 10 (1973);
English abstracts of records of disputes between neighbours over building and other matters

Scriveners'
company common paper 1357-1628, with a continuation to 1678 (British History Online)
Text from the edition of Francis W. Steer, London Record Society, vol. 4 (1968);
English translations and transcripts, including lists of officers, oaths, ordinances, petitions and letters patent

The
overseas trade of London: exchequer customs accounts 1480-1 (British History Online)
Text from the edition of H.S. Cobb, London Record Society, vol. 27 (1990);
English abstract of accounts detailing imports and exports

London
viewers and their certificates, 1508-1558:
Certificates of the sworn viewers of the City of London (British History Online)
Text from the edition of Janet Senderowitz Loengard, London Record Society, vol. 26 (1989);
Transcripts in English (with some Latin) of records of disputes over building and other matters

The
port and trade of early Elizabethan London: documents (British History Online)
Text from the edition of Brian Dietz, London Record Society, vol. 8 (1972);
English calendar of the London Port Book, 1567/8, detailing imports, and other documents

Monumental brasses on the internet:

Sir John Say
and his wife Elizabeth (1473):
Broxbourne, Hertfordshire
(photographs and discussion)
(Brass of the month for February 2005)

Butler:
W. Paley Baildon, Notes on the early Saville pedigree
and the Butlers of Skelbrook and Kirk Sandal (David Hepworth, this site)
Text of an article on the Butler family of Yorkshire, 12th to 14th centuries,
originally published in the Yorkshire Archaeological Journal,
vol. 28, pp. 380-419 (1926) and
vol. 29, pp. 68-89 (1929)

Savile/Saville:
J. W. Clay, The Savile Family
and W. Paley Baildon, Notes on the early Saville pedigree
and the Butlers of Skelbrook and Kirk Sandal (David Hepworth, this site)
Text of articles on the Saville family of West Yorkshire, 12th century and later,
originally published in the Yorkshire Archaeological Journal,
vol. 25, pp. 1-47 (1920), vol. 28, pp. 380-419 (1926) and
vol. 29, pp. 68-89 (1929)

Springall:
Springall
Extractions - Earlier than 18th Century (Bev Weston's Genealogical Home Page)
Includes a number of medieval and early-modern occurrences of the surname and its variants

Stainton:
J. W. Walker, Dicton, Stainton and Popeley
(David Hepworth, this site)
Excerpt from "The Manor and Church of Woolley",
originally published in the Yorkshire Archaeological Journal,
vol. 27, pp. 249-318 (1924)

Twysden:
Ronald G. Hatton, and Rev. Christopher H. Hatton,
Notes
on the Family of Twysden and Twisden (Kent Archaeological Society)
Text of a paper originally published in Archaeologia Cantiana, vol. 58, pp. 43-67 (1945)
Includes some 16th century people, but mainly later

Links:

Societies and journals:
Society of Antiquaries of Scotland
Includes a list of publications in print.

An ordinary of the arms
(Brian Timms, Studies in Heraldry)
In the process of compilation from the collection of
European Rolls of Arms of the Thirteenth Century on the same website

European
Rolls of Arms of the Thirteenth Century
(Brian Timms, Studies in Heraldry)
Collins' Roll,
Part 9,
Part 10,
Part 11 and
Part 12

B. H. D’Elboux,
Coats
of Arms in Queenborough Castle [Kent] (Kent Archaeological Society)
Text of a paper originally published in Archaeologia Cantiana, vol. 58, pp. 14-27 (1945)
An early 17th-century list of arms, with blazons and brief biographical notes

6 January 2005:

New links

Brief guide to medieval English genealogy:

Public records: Domesday book:

David Roffe's website contains
a wealth of background material on Domesday Book and related subjects, including the texts of
lectures and published papers and unpublished local studies. There is
a detailed examination of The Domesday texts, and
Domesday Online
- a large collection of links to relevant information on the Internet

A detailed
review
by David Roffe, originally published in The Medieval Review,
of Phillimore and Co's CD-ROM version of the Domesday Book,
is available online.

Digital Domesday (Alecto Publications)
CD-ROM versions, incorporating images of the manuscript and of Farley's transcript of the Latin text,
together with English translations (revised versions of the Victoria County History translations for
Great Domesday, and a new translation of Little Domesday). Available either as medium-resolution
images on a single CD-ROM, or as high-resolution images on a 4-CD-ROM set.
A review by David Roffe is available online

Miscellaneous:
David Roffe and Christine Roffe,
Madness
and care in the community: a medieval perspective
(British Medical Journal)
Discussion - originally published as
British Medical Journal, vol. 311, pp. 1708-1712 (1995) - of medieval attitudes towards insanity, including
implications for land tenure and the records that were generated, with several examples.
On the author's website is the text of a shorter lecture on
Perceptions
of insanity in medieval England

Medieval source material on the Internet:

Internet Libraries:

Google Print
An ambitious project to digitise more than 8 million volumes over the next few years

Internet Archive: Text Archive
Actually, a collection of text archives, including the
Million Book Project,
the Canadian Libraries collection,
and others

Modern works: History:
Joseph Jacobs,
England
(JewishEncyclopaedia.com)
Article on the history of Jews in England from the Jewish Encyclopaedia (1901-1906),
including a detailed account of their medieval history. With cross references to other
relevant articles, including those on "London", "York", "Exchequer of the Jews", "Domus Conversorum",
"Aaron of Lincoln" and "Hugh of Lincoln"

Modern works: County and local history:

Draft texts from the Victoria County History of Gloucestershire
(VCH Gloucestershire)
Dymock, Kempley

Burghwallis, South Yorkshire:
Village History (Burghwallis.com)
Includes two items by Margaret L. Pidcock-Burns - Early Lords, detailing the
heirs of Robert the Poitevin in the 13th and 14th centuries, and an M.A. thesis,
Burghwallis and Bentley: A comparative study of the development of two South Yorkshire Parishes

Hereward
'the Wake' and the Barony of Bourne: a Reassessment of a Fenland Legend [Lincolnshire]
Text of a paper
published in Lincolnshire History and Archaeology, vol. 29, pp. 7-10 (1994)

Congleton
[Cheshire] Borough Charters
Online transcript, in progress, of the 19th-century abstracts of a large collection
of charters (13th century and later), in preparation for the publication of a calendar.
A preliminary analysis of the charters is also available

Henry de Lacy’s
charter and the development of Congleton [Cheshire]
(Congleton
Civic Society)

On Middan Gyrwan Fenne:
Intercommoning around the Island of Crowland [Lincolnshire]
Examination of the background to a dispute over the lands of Crowland Abbey in the 12th century.
Text of a paper
published in Fenland Research, vol. 8, pp. 80-86 (1993)

Medieval
Earthworks of South Lincolnshire

Nottinghamshire
and the North: a Domesday Study
Text of David Roffe's thesis examining the Domesday record for Nottinghamshire,
and its implications for the county and the Danelaw

Stamford
Castle: history

Christine Mahany and David Roffe,
Stamford:
The Development of an Anglo-Scandinavian Borough [Lincolnshire]
Analysis of the history of Stamford, to the 11th century,
drawing on documentary and archaeological evidence. Text of a paper originally
published in Anglo-Norman Studies 5: Proceedings of Battle Conference 1982, pp. 199-219

Lady
Godiva, the book, and Washingborough [Lincolnshire]
Discussion of the manor around the 11th century, and its connection with Godiva,
apparently the third wife of Siward, Earl of Northumbria. Originally published
in Lincolnshire Past and Present, vol. 12, pp. 9, 10 (1993)

Modern works: Modern biography and prosopography:
W. G. Searle, Anglo-Saxon Bishops, Kings and Nobles:
The Succession of the Bishops and the Pedigrees of the Kings and Nobles (1899)
(Foundation for Medieval Genealogy)
Scanned images, in PDF format; in progress (Subscription required.)

Public records: Taxation and other lists:
The
Kent Lay Subsidy Roll of 1334/5 (Kent Archaeological Society)
Images of text edited by H.A. Hanley and C.W. Chalklin,
published in Kent Records, vol. 18 (1964). With an index of names.

Public records: Miscellaneous:
Journal of
the House of Lords (British History Online)

Church records and religious houses:Fasti Ecclesiae Anglicanae
Biographical lists of senior clergy associated with the cathedrals of England and Wales, originally
compiled by John le Neve in the early 18th century, and twice revised since then.
Texts from the twentieth-century multi-volume revised edition (British History Online):

Monumental brasses on the internet:
Anonymous:
Chobham, Surrey (rubbing and discussion of plate showing the adoration of the sheoherds, from a lost brass)
(Monumental Brass Society, Brass of the Month, December 2004).

Medieval English families on the Internet:

Broket:
The Broket Archive (brockett.info)
Extremely detailed accounts of Brokett families in England, Scotland and elsewhere
in the 13th century and later, including many transcripts of
original documents and illustrative charts. Within England there are separate sections
for Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Essex, Hertfordshire, Lincolnshire, London,
the North East and Yorkshire

Woodford/Woodforde:
The Woodforde Family (Stephen Butt)
Detailed notes on the Woodford(e) families of Leicestershire, 14th century and later,
and Northamptonshire, 16th century and later

Links:

Societies and journals:
The American Genealogist: TAG
Includes lists of contents of recent issues

Heraldry:
European
Rolls of Arms of the Thirteenth Century
(Brian Timms, Studies in Heraldry)
Collins' Roll,
Part 6,
Part 7 and
Part 8